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Heatwave was a cybernetically-enhanced mutant, with the power to absorb and release ambient solar energy in the form of super-heated plasma. It was specially difficult for him when his powers first began to manifest because they led to a tragic incident when he accidentally killed his brother — something Heatwave was never able to come to terms with. His brother's death had such a devastating effect on the family that he chose to leave home and enroll in naval training school, rather than endure their accusing eyes anymore. He graduated with honors, got married, joined the Navy and eventually became one of the elite SEAL team. Tragedy struck once again shortly thereafter when his daughter was killed during a terrorist attack. His marriage soon fell apart, and his performance level dropped so low that he caused serious injury to himself and those under his command during a high-risk rescue operation. He felt that he had finally hit bottom; that's when Cyberdata showed up. They promised to heal him and provide him with a special suit. In return, he needed to supply them with his tremendous power for various combat operations. All he had to do was follow orders, with the help of a "brain box" in his head. He then became a S.H.O.C. and did Cyberdata's evil bidding, until the benign Dr. Corben removed the brain box from his head and showed Heatwave the error of his ways. He then teamed up with Corben, as well as former S.H.O.C.s Stryker and Cyblade, to form Cyber Force.

At one point, Heatwave became aware of a reality disruption that was threatening to isolate many superpowered beings from each other. He was in favor of that, for it would leave Cyber Force with less enemies to fight. Velocity and Ripclaw rebelled against this, for the disruption would also isolate them from many dear friends.[1]

When the demon Mephisto invaded from the Marvel Universe, he abducted Heatwave and brainwashed him into acting as his lieutenant.[2] He was entrusted with overseeing the enforced hedonism as the 'Mayor' in New York and the 'Fire King' in Las Vegas.[3][4] However, Cyblade talked him into his senses and he turned against Mephisto, sacrificing his life to thwart the demon’s plans.[5]

A copy of Heatwave was created by technology from a crashed alien ship. Through this ship, he was made aware of the threat posed by another alien ship approaching Earth. He went to Cyber Force’s part-completed backup base on Mikquit Island in Long Island Sound in order to make it ready to repel the aliens, and had the work completed by the time Ripclaw, Velocity, Ballistic and Cyblade arrived with the same aim.[6]

During the initial skirmish when the Hunter-Killer team attacked Long Island, Heatwave took a blast from Samantha Argent’s bioelectric powers.[7] The damage to his suit left him vulnerable to being burnt up by his own powers, until the suit was repaired by Architect.[8]

When Ellis offered to stay with Cyber Force and safeguard against Velocity’s new Ultra-Sapien powers, Heatwave decided to join the Hunter-Killer team. He did this partly because he did not fully trust them, but also because he felt he had a diminished role within Cyber Force since his resurrection, as Cyblade had stepped up as leader in his absence.[9]

Heatwave was a cybernetically enhanced mutant who was able to absorb and retain ambient solar energy. He wore a specially designed suit that was built for him by Cyberdata that allowed him to regulate this energy and release it as a forced beam of super-heated sub-atomic particles called plasma. This plasma could then be used as a weapon or as a means of self-propelled flight. Heatwave could project a plasma beam and fly at high speed by riding super-heated air currents. Heatwave did not need the suit to absorb and release energy. His mutant metabolism enabled him to do this on his own. The suit made him much more efficient and magnified his powers considerably. Without it, though, he had to be extremely careful of the amount of energy he absorbed because his body would eventually be consumed by the plasma heat.